Missouri man gets 30 years for killing uncle with a hammer

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for fatally beating his uncle with a hammer.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 39-year-old Jason Ayansu was sentenced Wednesday in St. Louis County for second-degree murder, attempted kidnapping, resisting arrest and two counts of armed criminal action.

Prosecutors say he attacked his uncle, 63-year-old Levi Battley, in 2009 during a fight outside an apartment of a friend. Battley died of blunt trauma to his head and body.

Ayansu was held at a state psychiatric facility for several years before being deemed competent to stand trial. Ayansu has a previous conviction of second-degree robbery in St. Louis County from 2001.